Tag Archives: Jessica Chastain

The first full trailer for Christopher Nolan’s new movie Interstellar is out, check it out below! We had seen a teaser trailer a bit ago, and as usual with his movies details are kept very tight and very secret (even IMDB says the plot is unknown). We heard some things that it was going to involve surpassing mankinds limitations on space travel, and some others were saying maybe it was going to revolve around corn somehow. But we now know from the trailer that this movie will deal with the fact that humans are running out of food. We don’t need scientists, or engineers, we need food. And we have to think beyond surviving as a family, or as a country, we have to think of surviving as an entire species. And we must search for survival options for our species beyond our solar system by making use of (ahem) Interstellar travel. Check out the trailer –

This movie sounds amazing in every way. I love the concept and the “big picture” thinking that Christopher Nolan always brings to the table,. Plus the ideas behind this movie are very real, and very relevant. I would be excited for this to be any Christopher Nolan movie, but the fact that its also a space travel movie just excites the nerd in me even more. I am hoping that the movie doesn’t go too far off on that tangent however, we have seen movies built around great ideas and concepts that just took a massive turn for the worse (Prometheus I’m looking at you buddy – you can listen to our review of that piece of crap here). But if anyone can hold this type of movie together its Christopher Nolan. He has a fantastic ability to build movies around these huge concepts and keep it there, front and center, through the whole movie.

Let us know what you think about the trailer below in the comments! And check the podcast this week to hear Paul and I discuss this trailer on this weeks show where we will be reviewing Godzilla!

The first trailer has gone online for John Hillcoats Lawless, you can check it out below followed by the previous article I wrote about the film and its awesome cast. I think I was right on point with what I wrote in the article below, saying that this movie is going to be bad-freaking-ass. Don’t believe me? Just watch for yourself…

There has been a lot of talk lately about “super movies”… and I am not referring to super-hero movies. Although there is a shit load of talk about super-hero movies as well, yeah I’m looking at you AVENGERS. God damn it seems like I cant even take a shit without seeing some new Avengers images imprinted right there on the damn toilet paper. But I am not talking about super-hero movies. I’m talking about movies that are coming out that have spectacular casts. It’s like The Avengers, but real life actors… if that makes any sense. There are a couple flicks coming out that are just jam packed with amazing actors. Its almost too much to even imagine them all in one movie! It’s like the first time you heard about the whole cast for the remake of Oceans 11, let’s put it that way. I would list the movies I am talking about but lets face it: I’m lazy and you’re smarter than I am; you probably know them all.

One movie that I am really stoked for and therefore not too lazy to mention is Lawless (formerly titled The Wettest County in the World), directed by John Hillcoat and based on a novel written by Matt Bondurant. The synopsis from IMDB is as follows – “Set in the Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a bootlegging gang is threatened by authorities who want a cut of their profits.” Ah yes, that is right up my alley. I am a big fan of the Depression-era look to movies, as well as the overall American attitude toward life and the law during that time. But to bring it back to my earlier point, what really gets me excited for this movie is the cast and crew…

First we have John Hillcoat directing, who previously directed The Proposition as well as The Road (both of which I think are pretty great films). The overall tone of his previous movies is what’s important and what will translate specifically well to Lawless. Second you have a screenplay by Nick Cave who also wrote the screenplay for Hillcoat’s The Proposition. But the big kicker here, ladies and gentleman and Paul, is the cast. Check this out… the film will star (deep breath) –

Tom “I’m extremely bad ass” Hardy

Shia LaBeouf – You can hate him all you want but personally I think he is a great actor.

Jessica Chastain – Who is nothing short of absolutely amazing.

Gary Oldman – Who is top on our list ‘ol chap!

Mia Wasikowska – Alice in Wonderland, Jane Eyre and The Kids Are Alright.

Guy Pearce – Come on… its Guy Pearce…

Noah Taylor – The Proposition and the upcoming Hatfields & McCoys

Dane DeHaan– Ultra believable bad super powers kid from Chronicle.

Jason Clarke – Public Enemeies and the upcoming The Great Gatsby.

With a cast like that it’s got to be good! OK, well it doesnt have to be good, but my money is on the fact that it will be bad-freaking-ass. A bunch of bootleggers pushing moonshine and booze, outrunning the cops, and shooting shit up! With a great screenplay, director and phenomenal cast, they could probably make watching paint dry exciting! I am stoked… no, I am super-stoked! Lawless is scheduled to open in the post-prohibition USA August 31st, 2012.

You guys said there were seats back here!

What say you? Will a great cast make this a great movie? Or just another overloaded flop? Let us know in the comments!

P.S. Does anyone else think that John Hillcoat looks exactly like Stevie from East Bound and Down?

This original idea for this piece was for me to catch up on and review the three Jessica Chastain performances that didn’t receive as much attention as her portrayals in The Help and Tree of Life. I got through The Debt well enough, but around the halfway point of Take Shelter a different angle occurred to me. It wasn’t until I finished with Coriolanus that the thesis solidified enough and I decided to roll with that.

First, allow me to give you a brief rundown of the five films that Jessica Chastain was featured in throughout the course of 2011:

The Help: In which she plays a hopelessly inept housewife (suffering) who takes the credit for the food and work of her housekeeper played by Octavia Spencer (In her Oscar-winning role.) I written about this film before: not my favorite.

Tree of Life: In which she plays a 1960’s housewife (suffering). A loving wife and mother whose philosophy on life are the crux of the film’s major themes and lie in stark contrast to the beliefs of her husband (played by Brad Pitt.)

Tangent #1: Once in a blue moon there comes a film that perplexes me so fully that I literally have to watch the film over and over again as a sort of punishment or half-assed attempt to understand it. Mulholland Drive was the last film in which this happened. Tree of Life definitely falls under this category. Needless to say, the brief synopsis is pure conjecture and I feel a little stupid even writing it.

Coriolanus: In which she plays the wife (suffering) of the title character (Ralph Fiennes) and most deal with the fact that her husband’s relationship with his mother is a wee bit (to put it lightly) inappropriate.

Tangent #2: I love Shakespeare. One summer, I obsessively read and in some cases reread every single one of his plays. While, I don’t think this is news to anyone, but it bears repeating: Coriolanus, along with Titus Andronicus, may be the toughest to get through.

Take Shelter: In which she plays the wife (suffering) of a man whose laden schizophrenia is slowly bubbling to the surface.

Tangent #3: Man, Michael Sheen is a fucking great actor. If Michael Fassbender not getting an Oscar nomination for “Shame” was the biggest snub of the year, Sheen’s performance in Take Shelter may be the second biggest.

The Debt: In which she plays the younger version of Helen Mirren, who plays a former Israeli Intelligence Agent who has been keeping a very big secret. Oh yeah, and she’s the long-suffering wife of a fellow Intelligence officer.

Tangent #4: I had higher hopes for this movie, given the cast and the pedigree of the filmmakers behind it (Bill Madden directing, a screenplay by Matthew Vaughn.) It’s a perfectly watchable thriller, however, at about the halfway mark of the film, I found myself manicuring my Amazon wish list (It’s compulsive… I hope I’m not alone.)

Wait for it…read it again…see the pattern.

This may seem like I’m the first guy to knock what has been an extraordinary year for the lady, but I’m not. In fact, it’s just opposite. Looking at the broad strokes, the similarities are certainly there, but what Chastain has done with every performance is simply remarkable. She is able with great subtlety and economy to mine the different shades of the human condition as it pertains to women. While she has essentially played the same role in all five films, she has ranged from electric exuberance to unflinching resolve to extreme pain. If watched in succession, it’s not entirely impossible to think of Chastain’s five performances as one large all-encompassing performance.

With so much heat around her, the possibilities are endless as are the paychecks. At this point, the fork in the road is upon her. Turn one direction and you go by way of Kate Hudson and make one dispensable romantic comedy after another until you whither away into obscurity and are only known for which rock star you are currently fucking. Turn the other direction and co tine to make interesting choices, win a couple of Oscars and transform into the second coming of Meryl Streep. Selfishly, I hope she chooses the latter. I realize that’s a high bar to set, but after a year like the one Ms. Chastain had, it’s hard not to see it coming. In 2011, Ms. Chastain may very well have painted her masterpiece, what will she do for an encore?